Roku Is Riding Original Content and AVOD Waves Into 2023

It was a banner year for one of connected TV's biggest players, and Roku is bringing that momentum into 2023. As competition becomes even more fierce in the advertising-supported world, Roku knows it's been here for years. After climbing to surpass 70 million active accounts to wrap up 2022, Roku is leaning even more into original content in the coming year and is doubling down on the strength of AVOD. “Think about just how much AVOD has emerged on the scene this year,” sad vp of programming Rob Holmes, looking back at the beginning of 2022. “Disney didn’t have ads, Netflix didn’t have ads, [Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David] Zaslav wasn’t talking about FAST channels. All these things we’ve been talking about for years, and now everyone has realized that there’s going to be a mix.” “That’s where we really continue to differentiate and grow substantially,” Holmes said. “We’ve been talking about AVOD for five-plus years, and to have the industry pivot so hard toward AVOD, … we wouldn’t have guessed that coming into the year." Roku Wraps Largest Upfront Ever, Surpassing $1 Billion in Ad Commitments In 2022, Roku premiered its first original movie, Weird: The Al Yankovic story, starring Daniel Radcliffe, and launched more originals like The Great American Baking show, Martha Gardens and Emeril Tailgates. “Being able to step into the higher and more premium content, you come in and the originals make it new and interesting, but then we can connect you with all that great content,” Holmes said. Some of that content includes Rich Eisen coming over from Peacock, the addition of Jennifer Hudson’s daytime talk show and a slate of new FAST channels, including AMC’s portfolio. “Continuing to expand the envelope of content, but pairing it up across these different areas, [levels] it up with a more premium lead-in that then brings you into all this other great stuff,” Holmes said. “The growth of FAST overall and the leveling up of content partnerships there has been really significant.” And that growth is only going to continue, with Roku set to begin manufacturing its own TVs for the first time, coming spring 2023. Big-name hires The company’s push into originals is evident with the hires of David Eilenberg and Charlie Collier. Eilenberg came on as head of originals for the company in March from ITV America, where he served as chief creative officer. In September, Roku snagged Fox Entertainment chief Collier to serve as the company’s first president of Roku Media. The pair have quickly accelerated the company's content, acquiring the rights to 150 episodes of The Great British Baking Show—and launching a related themed FAST channel—in November, following the company’s announcement that it will produce a new season of the American series in 2023. According to Eilenberg, that addition is driving further discovery of Roku’s library. But perhaps no other original was more of an acquisition driver than Weird. “The pleasantest surprise for me, from an Originals standpoint, is there is still programming whitespace out there, and there are still audiences that aren’t getting the kinds of shows and films they want,” Eilenberg said. “Part of the feedback we got from Weird is they haven’t seen a movie like this since Airplane!” Roku went all-in on Weird in 2022, partnering with T-Mobile for the connected TV company’s first 360 activation, one of its largest marketing pushes in its history. Roku then quickly followed suit with CPG partnerships for three more original series: Martha Gardens, Emeril Cooks and Children Ruin Everything. “If we can be really precise in identifying those audience needs, we can continue to have to have success and be asymmetrical and unexpected in our approach to programming. That's how we're going win on the originals front,” Eilenberg said. More on the way At the end of 2021, Holmes told Adweek that Roku planned to develop more than 50 original series over the next two years, a goal the company remains firmly on track to reach. Holmes made that prediction before Eilenberg joined, but both noted the overall landscape has shifted. “The big transition that took place this year [was] from the Quibi library to long-form original commissions,” Eilenberg said. “In terms of getting viewers acclimated to the notion of a Roku Original and really finding a few franchises that will continue for us, the Quibi library was incredibly valuable.” The biggest looming question had been whether they could launch half hour- or hour-long content, he added. Roku Touts Original Content, Brand Studio and OneView Ahead of 2022 NewFronts Roku will continue to experiment with what works, particularly around areas like Spanish-language programming. “We couldn’t have known when we talked last year that was the direction we were going to go, but the market—both the consumers and our advertisers—are taking us there,” Holmes said. For Eilenberg, the goal for Originals in 2023 is identifying franchises that work for Roku, and then doubling down. “That’s how you really build franchises, that’s how you build brand identity, and more than that, it’s how you reacquire customers,” he said. “I’m excited for our new shows, but I’m also excited to find which of our shows we want to bring back.”